If I suggested to you that the possibility of eradicating dis-ease from society was a possibility, what would you think? Would you at least consider the possibility?

One of my favorite themes about how things happen in the world is that the most amazing discoveries that have ever happened all started with a thought. Think about man’s ability to fly, watching TV, talking on a telephone, listening to a radio, putting a man on the moon. How about playing music on a record player? Scratch that thought, on an 8-track player? Scratch that, on a cassette? Scratch that, on a CD? Every one of these ideas started with a thought. Bringing the thought to reality may well have been thought to be impossible at first, but with some trial and error, the possibility of fulfilling the dream made that small step from impossible to improbable. With some ingenuity and persistence, progress continued to be made until the improbable became the inevitable. And then with a final push, the inevitable actually happened. Each of the items above moved from a thought that was seemingly impossible, to improbable, to inevitable, and in fact, these have all moved to the point of being taken for granted. We don’t even think about the possibility that these things seemed impossible at some point.

In a worst case scenario, eradicating dis-ease from society is at least a thought. Some may think it’s impossible, but I think we’re past that point. Many may think it’s improbable, some may think it’s inevitable.

Where do you stand?

Here’s what I believe. I believe that it’s not only past the improbable, but into the inevitable. I also believe it’s right around the corner.

Wait, don’t leave. If everyone stopped at this point in the journey, we’d still be listening to 8-tracks.

What is dis-ease? I like to think of dis-ease as one of the DIS’s in life. It’s in the same category as DIS-comfort, DIS-satisfaction, DIS-connected, DIS-empowered, DIS-appointment. DIS by definition implies a lack, and DIS-ease is a lack of ease. Dr. Gabor Mate describes it as “dis-ease is dis-harmony, literally an expression of internal disharmony.”

So where are we today? It seems like most people either have dis-ease, or know someone with dis-ease. Massive amounts of money have been spent trying to find the cures for dis-eases and yet it seems like it is more and more rampant than ever before. So with all of this dis-ease being rampant in society, it may seem at least daunting if not impossible to believe that eradicating dis-ease from our society is right around the corner.

“In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the existing and problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller

So are we looking at things the right way? Or do we have to change the way we’re looking at things. Is there a new model?

I think there is. And I think it already exists. I think it’s staring us in the face and is so incredibly obvious, but we’re just not seeing it. Actually some are seeing it. I think there are thousands if not millions of people that know what this new model is. You have friends that know what the model is. You might even know what it is yourself. Are you ready? Here it is:

DON’T GET SICK.

And if you happen to get sick, DEAL WITH THE ROOT CAUSES OF WHAT’S MAKING YOU SICK.

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Ok, the sarcastic thought “Thanks Einstein” may be crossing your mind right now, but think about it. How does this quote resonate?

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, said: “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

I believe that we know many of the things that are making us sick. And I also believe that our bodies try to tell us something when we start to get out of whack – but are we listening? What’s the classic response we make when our bodies start to tell us something? Think of your basic headache. We get a headache, we run for a pill. Great, headache gone. Let me start running a hundred miles an hour again. Whoa! Slow down cowboy! What’s causing the headache? Might it be that you’re running a hundred miles an hour and your body is trying to tell you to slow down.

But we ignore the sign. We have a quick fix solution in a bottle and we don’t need to pay attention to that silly headache. We’re too busy, too many things to do, thanks to the science community for finding something that helps us mask our symptoms.

This goes on for a while. There are strange aches and pains, a little bit of dis-comfort, but we work our way through it, ignoring the signs and plowing forward. And then it happens. You wake up one morning and you can’t ignore the signs any more. You go to the doctor and you get the results. DIS-EASE. Wow, it happened overnight. Really? No, seriously? You think it happened overnight? The signs have been there for a long time but they were ignored.

Let’s go back to the bold idea of eliminating dis-ease from society and asking the question “What if?” What if whenever our body gave us a sign, we acknowledged the sign and took action to figure out what it was? What if when our body gives us a sign we actually take the time to understand the options available to us to deal with the real problem right then and there, instead of looking for a solution that masks the real issue? What if we actually slow down when our bodies tell us to? What if we took the time to understand what is happening in our life that might be making us feel dis-comfort? What if we dealt with the root causes of those physical symptoms? Maybe it’s a job that is sucking the life right out of you. Maybe you have a bad relationship with a friend or a lover. Maybe you’re constantly suppress your feelings, holding back on speaking your mind because you’re afraid you’ll sound silly, or people won’t understand you, or you might say something controversial. What if things like this were the root cause of your physical condition?

But we don’t have time for that because we’re too busy, or there’s no way out. We need that job, we’ll never find another one. We have to make that relationship work. There are too many things to do. The boss won’t understand because he needs that report by tomorrow. Really? Here’s a question. If you call the boss to say you won’t be coming in because you’ve had a heart attack or you’re being treated for dis-ease, how will he get that report? We all have responsibilities in our life, things that we have to do. The point isn’t that we should ignore our responsibilities. The point is that we shouldn’t ignore the signs. We ignore the little signs, then we ignore the wee bit bigger signs. And then we finally get a sign that we can’t ignore any more.

What if we didn’t ignore the signs? What if we took responsibility for our own well-being? What if we committed to taking action whenever we got a sign? My honest belief is that if every single person did this, we would see a drastic drop in dis-ease outbreak, almost overnight.

I have a lot more beliefs in line with this. I believe that if we live life to the fullest, with no regrets, we keep our bodies in an environment that they are able to heal themselves from whatever they are exposed to. I believe that a number of dis-eases stem from a root cause of seeing ourselves as “not good enough” or “not worthy”, this is often a recurring theme in people diagnosed with autoimmune dis-ease. Guess what, you are good enough and you are worthy. I believe that people can be healed from dis-ease. There are so many documented cases of spontaneous remissions that I have to believe this. I wish I knew why some heal from dis-ease and some don’t, but I don’t know why. I understand that some are born with dis-ease and a number of these points may not apply to them, I wish I had an answer to that. But I don’t.

None of this is news. Many people have the same or similar beliefs. There are hundreds or thousands of authors, speakers, bloggers, etc. encouraging you to take control of your life, suggesting that if you do you will live a much happier and healthier life. You may be one of the ones that have these beliefs. You may be living your best life every day. You may even have started an alternative health care practice, or a coaching practice. On the other hand, you may be one of the ones that think this is a bunch of woo-woo hooey (odds are it you’re thinking that, you haven’t read this far).

There was a 1980’s song performed by Icicle Works called “Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)”. I like how the metaphor works here. If we pay attention to the whispers that our bodies are giving us, can we do something about them before our body starts to scream? Can we prevent the onset of dis-ease by simply being in harmony with the signs our bodies are giving us?

The metaphor works in another way too. If so many people understand this message, have taken action and have had success preventing, or healing, or co-existing with dis-ease, then why isn’t the message clear to all? Is it because as a society, we are only whispering that we know the answer? Is it not quite mainstream so we are only whispering it to some of our friends? Well I think it’s time to turn our whispers into a scream. This is the type of idea that needs to be screamed at the top of our lungs from every mountaintop.

This may be where some limiting beliefs start to creep in. Several times of late I’ve heard people say that they don’t like how things are going on in society, in their community, or in the world, and that they want “to make a difference.” You may believe all of this but you start to think you’re too small to make a difference. Or maybe you’re afraid that your message might be controversial. You may hope that others are getting this message and you may tell two of your friends about how you believe this type of message to be true. And that’s great. But guess what, if everyone thought they were too small to make a difference nothing would ever get done.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

My belief is that any radical change that has ever been accomplished started with a thought that was shared and it grew into something. Once the conversation starts and enough people believe in it, anything can happen.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead

This conversation has started. And it’s building a lot of momentum. It may seem like it’s just a whisper in your circles of influence, but there are many other circles of influence all over the world, and it’s gaining momentum there too. Nobody wants to have dis-ease and Everybody wishes they didn’t have to deal with the consequences of it. Of course you could keep whispering because somebody else will probably scream it from the mountaintops. Are you one of these four characters?

An important job had to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Can you imagine a world where dis-ease didn’t exist, or happened so rarely that it hardly warranted discussion?

If I suggested to you that the possibility of eradicating dis-ease from society was a possibility, what would you think?

If I were to suggest to you that you’re part of the solution, would you still be with me?

What do you believe? Will you turn your whisper to a scream?

And for those of you that think you just might be able to make a BIG difference, this one is for you: